


roses and thorns (and so i like you better)

by fossilizedbirds (pigeonsatdawn)



Series: lauki week 2020 ✨ [2]
Category: Purple Hyacinth - Ephemerys & Sophism (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, F/M, Fluff, SIMP!Kieran, This is literally so light, as always, as expected, enjoy anyway, florist!kieran, i don't know crap about flowers, kiki is in love, lauren still dislikes him, light - Freeform, maybe you can catch the happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 05:48:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26966992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pigeonsatdawn/pseuds/fossilizedbirds
Summary: Kieran White has never seen a flower as beautiful as Lauren Sinclair. He is in love—too bad she hates his guts.
Relationships: Lauren Sinclair/Kieran White
Series: lauki week 2020 ✨ [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1965910
Kudos: 41





	roses and thorns (and so i like you better)

**Author's Note:**

> i present to you, the second section in [red thread](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26940910), but in a flower shop instead of a coffee shop. 
> 
> whatever. this is the only way i can write lauki fluff so this is what you get.

**KIERAN LOVES FLOWERS.** He finds beauty in the various colors, shapes, and sizes that they come in. He pays attention to each kind of flower, when they bloom, where they grow, and takes care of them like he would a child—of which he loves, but is not yet willing enough to have one himself. He loves taking care of things in general: people, animals, and flowers, but even non-living things he takes care of well, like the places he frequents, keeping their condition neat and tidy, not a speck of dust in sight. 

That’s just Kieran White as a person: someone with the ability to see beauty even in the most unlovable of things, and love it. (This is not necessarily true for a certain Kieran White in another world, but we do not talk about that.) So when you enter the flower shop he works in, you will notice the atmosphere is somehow sunnier than the outside, the neatly lined pots of various flowers, arranged in a way where the colors don’t just contrast, and Kieran White himself, always taking care of some plant. He’ll greet you with a dazzling smile, leaving you breathless with his visuals and the overall scene of the flower shop. Dakan Rhysmel should be thankful to him for making their sales skyrocket. If it isn’t for him, the place would be quite the mess, literally and figuratively.

One day, Kieran White is taking care of a pot of mini sunflowers, when a woman comes in. Her hair is a deep, beautiful shade of red, a striking contrast to her fair skin, and she is wearing a sunny yellow dress, matching her golden eyes. When Kieran sees her, he forgets how to breathe for a second—he is entranced by her eyes, that they somehow shine like the sun, that someone could be so beautiful even if they’re not trying to. He has never seen a flower as beautiful as the woman in front of him, and he has just been looking at an entire pot of sunflowers, which are arguably very ravishing themselves. 

Then, the woman spoke—and Kieran wonders for a moment, how he could have missed the fact that the woman is _glinting_ when he’s been admiring her eyes—and though her voice isn’t too loud, it speaks with confidence, unwavering, and even with a hint of—disgust? “I need a bouquet of flowers.”

Kieran blinked several times, surprised by her command, that such a gorgeous lady could be so stern. Nevertheless, he is intrigued—after all, even the most beautiful roses have their thorns. It doesn’t make them any less beautiful; in fact, Kieran interprets it a solid mechanism to ward out the rose’s potential harmers. And perhaps, this lady here is just the same, rude to people so as to ward them away from her mere physical appeal.

And so he keeps his cool, shining his signature smile. “What kind of bouquet, Miss…?”

The woman, impatient, groans. “Sinclair.” At this, Kieran’s face gapes in recognition. She continues, “An acquaintance of mine is getting married.”

“You don’t seem to be in the merry mood yourself,” he notes good-naturedly, a pointed look to her apparent frown. When she simply glares at him, he turns into serious worker mode, and tells her, “Alright, Miss. Sinclair, are you aiming for a fancier bouquet or a simpler one? Do you want to include certain flowers in your bouquet?”

“I don’t know shit about flowers, nor do I care,” she says curtly, as if speaking more would be a waste of her time, “so just make me one, you’ll have your money and I’ll be on my way.”

Already moving around the store, picking a few flowers and wrappers (and I will not go into detail about this because I also don’t know shit about flowers), he comments again, “Well, you surely do not sound as elegant as they make out the Sinclairs to be.” 

“Oh, no, the Sinclairs surely are elegant,” the woman drawled, rolling her eyes. “Good. At least word of my short-temperedness hasn’t reached the public yet.”

“Oh, no, surely it has,” Kieran informs her, beginning to wrap some flowers together. “Lauren Sinclair, the sole daughter of the Sinclair family, with at least a dozen men trailing behind her every day, only to be rejected by her sharp tongue.”

The woman, Lauren Sinclair, who has been observing the shelves of potted flowers, pauses in front of a potted cactus and turns to face the flower boy. “So you knew,” she states simply.

He nods, looking up at her. “I never doubted the rumors, that you were breathtakingly stunning—but seeing it personally is definitely the experience.”

Even though she is trying to maintain an annoyed expression at the worker, she fails to conceal her growing blush. “A smooth talker, aren’t you?”

“Eh,” he shrugs. “I know how to charm a woman or two. You, however, Miss, would take quite the time.”

“And what makes you think I’d like to be charmed by you?” Lauren challenges, standing across him, in front of the counter. She looks at the bouquet he is assembling, and has to admit he has the skills to be a decent florist. The bouquet looks absolutely dashing.

“Nothing,” he admits. “I suppose there is always the possibility that you won’t, which only makes you all the more interesting. Or I’ll assume that it’s simply the fact that you don’t have an interest for men in particular.”

She places a couple of bills on the counter. “I don’t usually have an interest in self-conceited men, unfortunately.”

“Usually?” Kieran points out, foolish in hoping, yet holding on to it nonetheless. He also thinks that the woman wouldn’t put in such a word unless she means it, as she is also rumored for her high intellect and her precision in diction. 

He seems to be proven right when, after she takes her bouquet from him, she says, “You might have to try harder if you _really_ think you can impress me, Mr. White.” And with that, she leaves the flower shop. Kieran stands, amused at the newfound presence of an interesting flower in his life, and spends his next days, weeks, and—eventually—years, thinking about the woman he loves.

**Author's Note:**

> yeah. that sucked. whatever. lauki fluff is hard to write. take it. f for creativity, c for effort.
> 
> the next fics are even worse, and they're pretty much my previous fics recycled or something. it's a long week.


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